TRP: Hansel and Raef (Moonshine)
MINK 225 Setting: Nighttime. Raef is busy relaxing getting drunk in the courtyard. They were finally back at the castle, away from Sienna Springs and that fucking mess. Thank - fucking - god. It was over with. Goro and Jasper’s Wyn was with them. No one was dead, at least not yet. It was a great time to celebrate and hang out while waiting for Mishka and Hansel’s renewal. It was simple, it was easy, and it was relaxing. But, fuck, if wasn’t tired and feeling less than relaxed. Mishka had brought up that he might sell the estate back in Sienna Springs and the thought wouldn’t leave him alone. If the estate was gone then Gwydion’s body could be found and if Gwydion was found by someone...that was nearly as sad as knowing that no one there gave a shit for the kid except for him. And even he would have killed him if he had to. Raef swallowed nearly half the bottle before letting the bottle hang between his hands. He looked up at the stars, watching them twinkle and flash until they were obscured by thin, wispy clouds. He remembered teaching Gwydion the constellations that circled above them. ”Uncle Raef, what’s that one?” ”Oh...it’s…” Sometimes he would have to search for a name because Gwydion had always managed to find a pattern in the stars that wasn’t there. He sighed softly, smiling a little. He missed him. IZZY Hansel had talked Jonn into staying the night in the castle, even though the kid seemed antsy about it. It'd worked because Jonn hadn't wanted to stop clinging to him, so Hansel just carried him to the castle without him noticing once he was drowsy. Then he tried to protest, and Hansel told him it'd be more trouble to walk back to town now, and Jonn asked if Mishka would teleport him to Skyport, then, and Hansel said he didn't want to wake Mishka up. He told Jonn that Roddy would probably be happy to bunk with him, and Jonn hugged himself and shook his head silently. Hansel didn't know what was wrong, but he fixed it by carrying the kid on upstairs to the sitting room and parking them both on a couch by the fire, and cuddling Jonn 'til he settled and fell asleep. Napped for a bit, himself, too, and then woke up feeling stiff, still slightly drunk, and already slightly hungover. He pulled away carefully and left a blanket over Jonn, then headed downstairs, yawning, to get some water. Or maybe more booze, so he could be more than slightly drunk and stave off that hangover until morning. He shuffled into the kitchen and decided on both, gulping down a couple of glasses of water, then digging through the cabinets until he found his stash of shine from Shepherd Hills. Fucking excellent. He filled his flask and stepped out into the courtyard for some fresh air before he headed back up. . He'd just figured he'd be alone -- it was late as fuck, and cold outside -- but he spotted a vague shape, and as his eyes adjusted he realized it was Raef sitting in the grass, looking up at the stars. He peered up for a moment, himself, at the dark clouds drifting overhead, and wished fleetingly that Mishka was awake, that he could share it with him like they used to on the Blade. Another time, though; they'd have so many other times. He wandered over and flopped down gracelessly next to Raef, seeing the bottle in his hands but offering the flask anyway, giving it a tantalizing shake. "Hey. 'Sup." MINK "Hey." Raef took the offered flask to take a swallow. It burned sweetly; it was just what he needed. He handed the flask back and took a drink from his own bottle that didn't burn, but did the trick of relaxing him further. He had been relaxed in the bedroom with Griffin, but not enough to be able to sleep. He probably should've stayed - getting drunk in the middle of the night, in the cold with nothing but the clothes on his back on, was probably a fucking stupid idea. "How's the kid?" he asked, looking back up to the stars. He had seen Hansel come in with Jonn. Jonn...he didn't know what to fucking think about him. IZZY Hansel shrugged. It was hard to say without giving away too much of Jonn's fucking peculiarity. He wasn't even sure he knew. Took a guess, though. "Eh, fuckin' nervous about being around everyone. Given the whole --" he gestured vaguely with his flask -- "had a hand in the almost-apocalypse thing, an' all. S'all right though. Thanks for asking." MINK Raef chuckled and took another swig. "Shit happens." He probably shouldn't judge - Gwydion was just as fucked up as Jonn. And if Jonn had given two shits about Gwydion then maybe he wasn't quite so bad. "Gwydion might've joined him." IZZY Hansel winced a bit. He figured he should've been there. Been more preoccupied with making sure everyone still alive was okay, and setting up guards to keep the estate safe, and making plans on what to do next, how to keep Kheman out of Jonesy's hands, how to fuckin' kill a hydra ... Still, he should've fucking helped Raef bury his kid. Hesitantly, he shifted his flask from one hand to the other and patted Raef's shoulder, leaving his hand there. "He, uh. He seemed like a weird fuckin' kid," he admitted, because he was no goddamn good at lying. "Good one, though. He helped out when fuckin' Gruumsh got me." MINK "You've no idea." Raef snickered a little and turned the bottle in his hand. He appreciated the touch to his shoulder, and the small wince. He reached up with his opposite hand and squeezed Hansel's hand before he lowered his again. His brow furrowed. Oh. Hansel had known Gwydion; it kept slipping his mind that Gwydion had known his friends. "...good." That was good. Maybe Gwydion hadn't been quite so lost. "How long did he stay with you?" IZZY "Hmm." Hansel had to think for a moment. It hadn't been long. Not fucking long at all. "'Bout a month, maybe. Just kinda disappeared on us -- think he left a note for Larkin, or something." It hadn't seemed like Gwydion had really made any friends in the castle. Hansel guessed that was ... good, in a way, that they weren't all mourning, but god, it was fuckin' sad, too. "Him and Jonn were friends, though," he offered. Friends or, uh -- something. "Think they were living together in Skyport or something." MINK Raef quirked an eyebrow. He hadn't known that the two of them had been living together. It was disturbing, in a way - those two could've gotten into a shit ton of trouble - but... "Huh. Good. He had note for Jonn on him." He had given it to Jonn with hardly more than a greeting and he hadn't waited around to see if Jonn was going to read it. "...those two..." He hummed out softly and took another drink, smiling a little. "Guess if Skyport could survive Diva it could survive them together." IZZY Hansel snorted and turned up his flask. A note, eh. He'd never been quite sure if Gwydion was hitting on him, but then the way Jonn'd talked about him, he was pretty sure Gwydion had some sort of feelings for Jonn. And it'd kind of seemed like Jonn returned them, one way or another. It was hard to tell, with him. Hansel'd thought the kid really loved Flynn, too. A fuckin' killer and a necromancer. What a goddamn pair. "Think they might've been good for each other," he admitted. "Jonn seemed, y'know, happy." MINK "Good...yeah...I -" Raef stopped himself. If he finished, I hope Gwydion was happy, he was going to lose it and it had been a good fucking night so far. He wasn't going to ruin his reminiscing by crying on Hansel's shoulder...or ruin Hansel's night, either. "Did he say how they..." He waved his hand. "Nevermind. They probably met in some fuckin' bar. Gwydion did that shit in Alabaster." IZZY Hansel laughed quietly. "Yeah, no, fuckin' definitely. Jonn didn't mention, but fuckin' definitely." Then he thought for a second, and added, "Though, uh. Y'know, not gonna talk shit about Gwydion and all, but Jonn's, uh -- his ex, they met while Jonn was runnin' from the city paladins. Flynn gave him a place to hide. Wouldn't be surprised if those fuckers got together that kinda way, either." MINK "That sounds like one of those romance novels," Raef said with a soft laugh. "Wouldn't that be fuckin' something..." He chortled. Jonn running or Gwydion running, it didn't matter. That was some shit that would appeal to Gwydion. Jonn probably appealed in other ways....Fuck...those two. "Man. I'm fuckin' glad he had someone. He was always a bit weird. Never thought he'd find someone that tolerated him." He took another sip of his drink. He was almost out. IZZY Hansel snorted. If Raef had any fuckin' idea. He took a sip from his flask. "Nah, nah. Seemed like a fuckin' oddball, yeah, but he was all right. We're all goddamn oddballs. Would've liked, y'know, to have him around more than he was." And then maybe whatever the fuck had happened to him ... wouldn't have. Maybe Hansel could've protected him. He looked down for a moment, and offered Raef the flask. MINK "...yeah...He would've loved you." Who didn't love Hansel? Fucker was well...he was fucking fantastic. And Gwydion needed someone like that; someone who was good at being a dad. Maybe....he skirted that thought again. Raef took the offered flask and he took a draw of the burning liquid. His head was already spinning and this drink was sure to make it worse. He handed the flask back. "...did you ever talk about the stars?" Hansel knew about them and he knew that Gwydion loved them he always had. "...tried to teach them to him when he was like..." He raised his hand about three feet off the ground. "....shit, he kept making up patterns." IZZY "God, that's fuckin' adorable," Hansel said without thinking about it. "I mean, not real useful for astro ... az ... uh, fuckin' star navigation and shit, but fuckin' adorable. Nah, we never did. I taught Jonn a buncha constellations but I don't think any of it stuck. Put the boy in the woods without a road and he'd just fuckin' die. Goddamn city kid," he said fondly. MINK "No wonder they got along...Gwydion could get lost going to market." Raef laughed softly. "...He learned, like, three fuckin' constellations... teaching him to navigate..." He scoffed. "...as bad as teaching him how to use a blade." It was probably a good thing he hadn't been able to learn properly. IZZY Hansel snickered. That one'd been out of his hands, with Jonn -- kid had already known how to use a knife time he'd come on the scene. Something fucking charming about the two of them not having a whole sense of direction between them. "Hey. Hey, you're a high elf," he said, like he'd just realized it. "You grew up in Alabaster, right? Ain't you a fuckin' city kid, too?" He elbowed Raef, grinning -- gently, because Raef was fuckin' tiny and drunk, and he didn't want to knock him over. MINK "Really? I didn't notice." Raef grinned. He had to put out a hand to the ground to keep from toppling over at the light nudge. He only pulled his arm back in when he was sure he wasn't going to end up on his side. "Also...also I've been out of Alabaster since before your grandparents had babies." He hitched an a wiser voice at first, but by the end of the sentence he was laughing. IZZY Hansel automatically reached to steady him, but he managed to catch himself. Still, though. This drunk bastard. He dropped his arm around Raef lightly anyway, giving him an amused look. "Fuckin' old-ass man. God. What's it like being so fuckin' old and still not being able to hold your liquor, huh." MINK "...feels like I'm fuckin' old," Raef answered with a smile that held just the smallest hint of something sad. God...he fuckin' felt old and tired. "...but we're not all strappin' fine young men like yourself that're..." He lost track of his thought. He had one - some saying he had heard as a kid, but one he had forgotten. He snorted softly and finished his bottle, one small swallow, before he set it down on the grass. IZZY Hansel waited a moment for him to finish that thought, and snorted when he gave up and drank instead. He took a swallow from his flask and offered it again. "Raef. I'm thirty-fuckin'-six. Gonna fuckin' be thirty-seven before long. Y'know how old that is for an orc? I could fuckin' have grandkids by now." Saying it aloud made it real. "Oh my god, I could fucking have grandkids. Jonn better not fucking have kids." MINK Raef took the offered flask and he snorted softly in amusement. He fuckin' knew how old it was - Az had been old by any orc standard - and he fuckin' knew the horror of knowing he could have grandkids running about of Gwydion had decided to have kids. "Horrible. Imagine...you. A grandparent." He teased Hansel, lightly nudging him with an elbow though he was fuckin' sure if he had hit Hansel then he'd be the one falling over. "...you'd be a fuckin' good grandparent." IZZY "I'd be a fuckin' amazing grandparent or uncle or some shit," he agreed. The thing that worried him was what a kid of Jonn's might turn out like. And, shit, if he'd fuckin' got knocked up by Gwydion, who was also fucking strange -- Hansel shook it off and huffed. "Anyway, you and Griffin gonna get some kids? Or just fuckin' steal Theo." He grinned. MINK "Goro would shank me if I tried to steal Theo." Raef returned the grin. She was a good kid and he liked having her around. He ran his fingertips along the empty bottle on the ground between his legs and turned it, musing over the idea of adopting a kid or two with Griffin. "Dunno if he wants 'em..." He shrugged. "...maybe..." One day. When they were done with the Runners. IZZY Hansel watched him for a moment. Seemed like Raef was onboard for having kids, anyway. He didn't know how old Griffin was, exactly, but he seemed fuckin' young -- Hansel wouldn't've wanted kids ten, fifteen years ago, either. (Ended up with'em, though, anyway, and the results were a bit fucking mixed, there.) "Eh." He waved it off. "He's got the whole, fuckin', uh ... Scion thing, and all that, goin' on. Bet he hasn't had a chance to even think about it. I sure the fuck hadn't around his age, and all I had goin' on was bein' a pirate." He paused. "Actually, good fucking reason to not have kids, there. Anyway, see how he feels after we fuckin' off Gruumsh, eh?" He nudged Raef encouragingly. Couldn't fuckin' imagine not having his kids, much trouble as they could be. Only all right thing he'd ever managed to pull off, seemed like, sometimes. He stared off across the grounds, misty-eyed. MINK He tipped the bottle over. "Yeah. Gotta fuckin' kill a god first." And Bloodgrut. This was no fuckin' time for kids or even a kid talk. He just missed when Gwydion was young and the world a little less complicated. Life was easier back in Alabaster. He glanced towards Hansel and smiled at the look. "When'd you find Jonn and Luci?" IZZY It'd been so long ago that he actually had to think for a moment, scratching his beard and frowning. Well, that or being drunk addled him a little. "Was ... twenty-three. So it'd be about fourteen years ago now. Jonn was this fuckin' little pickpocket around the docks, an' I caught him swiping my wallet, but he was so fuckin' tiny, and he had Luci with him and she was just a goddamn baby, and ..." He scoffed at himself. "Big tough pirate an' all, y'know. Just fucking melted." MINK Raef smiled softly; he could see that. Hansel was like Griffin, or Griffin was like Hansel. However that fuckin' worked. Whatever. It was fuckin' "...adorable." He chuckled. "... can't say anythin'. Aesar and I killed people for a living and when Gwydion was born..." He grinned. "He was so fuckin' small." He held his hands almost together. "He was perfect." He smiled down towards the gesture he had made. "...the first time he smiled at me..." The corners of his lips downturned. "...just so fuckin' beautiful..." IZZY Hansel sniffled. Ah, fuck. Fuck, he wanted kids. More kids. "Missed that, with Jonn and Luci. Luci was little, but I was ... fuckin' ... gone an' shit, working. Missed a lotta firsts. I mean, fuckin', all of'em." He gulped down more shine at once than he should have, then looked out dreamily as he handed Raef the flask. "Goro wants t'have kids. Gonna be fuckin' great. He's gonna be such a good fucking dad." He sniffled again. MINK "Mmm...yeah." Goro was a good guy and if Theo was any idea of how he'd be...any kid he had would be fine. "...kids're the best..." He took the flask, drank, and handed it back. "...you-yer gonna fuckin' send them back when they're teens...Gwydion was a fuckin' monster." He smiled fondly as he said it. "Thought I was gonna have to kill some people... probably should've..." IZZY "Nooo," Hansel objected. "Jonn was so fuckin' sweet when he was a teenager. And Luci's so fuckin' -- dependable and smart and shit. I mean, me, yeah," he admitted, "fuckin' awful. But that's different." He threw his arm around Raef again and gestured with the flask. "Lissen. Lissen. Me an' you, and Goro an' Griffin, we're all gonna be real great fucking parents, a'right, an' our kids're gonna be great too." MINK "I was a great fuckin' teen...Gwydion was-was sassy." Just like Aesar was. Both of them combined...fuck. Drove him up a wall. Raef loosely hooked an arm as best he could around Hansel when Hansel through a heavy ass arm around him - damn guy was massive. "Nah...you'll all be fuckin' great," he corrected, reaching up with his free hand to snatch the flask out of Hansel's hand. "...I'm jus-just good at stabbin' shit and killin' and fuckin'..." He trailed off, searching for another word to follow and decided he didn't care, or maybe he was too drunk to care if he followed it up to clarify the sentence. "...I fucked my kid up." He'd do better next time, if there was a next time. IZZY "Psshh." Fucking psssshhhh. He had no idea. Hansel wanted to make him feel better, but he didn't wanna fuckin' admit out loud how much he'd fucked Jonn up. "Nah, man. Fuck off. Gwydion can't've been that bad. S'a good kid. You did good as you could, I bet. Shut up." MINK "...we found him in a fuckin' pit..." No kid, no person, who wasn't fucked up found themselves there...dead and rotting, and covered in filth. The flask dropped to the ground and he ran his hand over his face before pinching the brim of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. Yeah...he had fucked up. IZZY "Hey. Aw, no." Hansel ignored the flask to scoop Raef into his arms, automatically, squeezing him against his chest and patting his shoulder. He was so fuckin' small -- barely any bigger than Jonn. Maybe Hansel should carry him up to his room, and his husband. "Hey. S'cause some fucker put him there, an' that wasn't you, a'right? And we killed that fucker." He thought they had, anyway. He was still kinda unclear on that whole thing with Wyn. MINK Raef folded easily into Hansel's embrace. "...yeah..." They had killed the Sanguine Queen and watched her crumble to dust. They'd killed her, but it didn't stop the ache or make him miss Gwydion any less. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. "...he was such a good fuckin' kid...I miss 'im..." He dropped his head against Hansel's chest, looking out to the dark grounds. He missed him, even at the end. He wished someone else did, too IZZY Hansel kept rubbing his shoulder, grimacing to himself a little. This seemed like a husband problem. He didn't know what the fuck to say -- his kids were all alive, as fuckin' unlikely as it seemed with Jonn sometimes. Griffin wouldn't be able to fix it, either, though. Probably understand it even less, not having kids himself. So he stayed where he was, and quietly said the only thing he could think if. "Yeah, I know. He was. M'sorry." MINK Raef didn't answer right away, sitting there in silence with his arms as clasped as they could be around Hansel and in that position. He wished, a little, he was with Griffin, but...but Hansel had known Gwydion and Hansel understood. He had fuckin' Jonn and Luci and whoever else. So he took what comfort he could until the quiet tears had stopped and he could wipe at his face. "Thanks," he mumbled. His head spun a little less and felt fuckin' exhausted...but he felt better, or whatever the word was. He carefully pulled himself out of Hansel's grip so he could sit beside him. The ground was cold. "...fuck...remind me to tell you shit when I'm not fuckin' drunk." IZZY Hansel was a little reluctant and a little relieved to let him go, because sometimes people would pull away before they were actually ready to, and he fuckin' wanted to make sure Raef was all right. He seemed a bit better, though, at least, and he wasn't fuckin' running off, so Hansel patted his back in case that fucking helped the loss of your kid dying in a pit. "Pssh." He waved it off. "S'easier bein' drunk, though, eh?" MINK Raef snickered softly as he bent his knees and rested his arms on them. "Ain't that the fuckin' truth," he agreed. He had spent five years doing nothing but drinking...and killing...and wandering...But...he made a faint sound and toed the bottle away from him. "...gotta husband now..." Probably didn't need to fuckin' drink so much now. Hadn't even planned on drinking so fuckin' much that night. IZZY Hansel nodded solemnly. All right. If Raef was sitting here thinking about Griffin, then -- He plucked up his flash and tucked it away, then just about as easily scooped Raef up, too, and turned back towards the castle. He wasn't hungover, now, just drunk again, but he'd done a lot of carrying people around when he was this drunk. He was a fuckin' pro. "Yup," he said. "Sure do. Let's fuckin' get you back to him, eh?" END Title: Moonshine. Summary: Hansel and Raef have a drunken late-night heart-to-heart about kids. Hugs and crying occur. Category:Text Roleplay